PIANKOFF, Alexandre. The Litany of Re: Texts Translated, with Commentary. Edited by N. Rambova. New York: Pantheon Books / Bollingen Foundation, 1964.

Edition & Identification: First Edition thus. Bollingen Series XL:4 (Volume 4 of the Egyptian Religious Texts and Representations series).

Provenance: This volume comes from the personal library of Nathaniel Tarn (1928-2024), poet, anthropologist, translator, and a distinctive literary figure of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Educated in anthropology in Paris under Claude Lévi-Strauss and later at the University of Chicago, Tarn conducted fieldwork among the Maya of Guatemala and in Burma before turning increasingly toward a life devoted to literature and cultural criticism. He was widely recognized for his own poetry, for his influential translations of Pablo Neruda and other major international writers, and for his role in introducing world literature to English-language audiences.

Binding & Physical Appearance: Large quarto. Bound in publisher's original heavy brown cloth spine with gold-stamped title typography and Bollingen geometric crosses, over cream cloth-covered boards with an identical gilt emblem centered on the front cover. Housed in its original unclipped light tan pictorial dust jacket, displaying the original $7.50 publisher's price on the front inner flap.

Contents & Illustrations: A vital, high-level Egyptological study presenting the first comprehensive translation of the Litany of Re based on the critical New Kingdom text restored from the shroud of Thutmosis III and royal tomb walls. Beautifully printed on heavy stock, featuring 82 high-quality offset plates documenting the shroud facsimiles and eight complete papyri.

Included Ephemera (Inclosures): This copy includes two fascinating period pieces neatly tucked inside by a previous collector:

  1. An original January 24, 1968 newspaper/magazine clipping featuring the article "Prehistoric rock paintings face destruction in Sahara" by James Wellard.

  2. An original publisher's promotional prospectus sheet for Martin Isler’s Sticks, Stones, and Shadows: Building the Egyptian Pyramids.

Condition Report:
Dust Jacket: Very Good. Entirely unclipped and complete. Shows light uniform age-toning, gentle edge wear, and mild scuffing to the exterior panels.

Binding: Near Fine. The brown spine cloth is exceptionally clean with perfectly crisp, gleaming gilt lettering. The cream cloth boards show minimal handling, with sharp corners and a square text block.

Interior: Near Fine. The pages and plates are immaculate—crisp, white, completely free of highlighting, inscriptions, or library markings.